Fred Maroun is a Canadian of Arab origin who lived in Lebanon until 1984, including during 10 years of civil war. Fred supports Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, and he supports a liberal and democratic Middle East where all religions and nationalities, including Palestinians, can co-exist in peace with each other and with Israel. More blogs by Fred Maroun can be found at http://www.jpost.com/Blogger/Fred-Maroun and http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/fred-maroun/.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Arab/Israel Conflict: Palestine Delayed

It has become fashionable to blame
Israel for the failure to create a Palestinian state. These days, Israel is often criticized and
even vilified over its settlements in the West Bank. Personally, I don’t support the settlements,
not because they are illegal (there are conflicting views on this point), but
because they weaken the Palestinian moderates (whoever they may be) and they strengthen
the hand of those who vow to never accept any sort of peace with Israel.

The question that I would like to
explore here is whether the Arabs have done everything that they could to
create the Palestinian state that they now claim they want. Although much has happened before 1948,
including missed opportunities for Arabs for reconcile with the Jewish presence
in the Middle East, for the purpose of this discussion, let’s start with the UN
partition plan of November 29, 1947.

The UN partition plan allocated 43%
of Mandatory Palestine (previously occupied by Britain) to an Arab State with
only 1% Jewish population while it allocated 56% of Mandatory Palestine to a
Jewish State with 45% Arab population. The
Jewish leaders reluctantly approved the plan, but the Arab states rejected
it. Had the Arabs accepted it, the
“Jewish State” would have been small, and with 45% Arabs, it would have been a
Jewish State only in name. The Arabs
could have created an almost purely Arab Palestine in the 43% allocated to them.

In addition to refusing the plan, the
Arabs started a war against the state of Israel as soon as it was declared in
May 1948. The war resulted in over
12,000 casualties, and it ended 10 months later with an armistice. The armistice as signed in separate
agreements with Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, left Israel with 78% of Mandatory
Palestine and fewer Arabs than outlined in the UN partition plan since about
750,000 Arabs were either chased away or left with the intention of coming back
after the war had ended.

The war of 1948 was a huge loss for
the Arabs. They lost the right to a UN
partition plan that favoured them, and they lost territorial contiguity. However, they still controlled the rest of Mandatory
Palestine, and they could have unilaterally declared the creation of a Palestinian
state in those territories. Instead,
they chose to continue hostilities with Israel.

On May 30, 1967, Jordan signed a
mutual defense pact with Egypt. Egypt mobilized and massed on Israel's southern
border. On June 5, in a preventative strike, Israel launched a surprise air-based
attack on Egypt in a war that would last six days. By the end of the war,
Israel had occupied the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt), Gaza (Mandatory Palestine),
the West Bank (Mandatory Palestine), East Jerusalem (Mandatory Palestine),
Shebaa farms (Lebanon/Syria), and the Golan Heights (Syria). The land occupied by Israel was now several
folds larger than the land allocated to the “Jewish State” in the UN partition
plan.

At that point, Arabs could have negotiated
back their land in exchange for giving Israel what it desired, which was peace
with its neighbours. They could then create
the Palestinian state in the West bank and Gaza. Instead, in August 1967, Arab leaders met to
discuss the Arab position toward Israel, and they decided that there would be
no recognition, no peace, and no negotiations with Israel (also known as
"the three NOs").

The hostilities between Israel and
Arab states continued. On October 6,
1973, during Yom Kippur, the most important day of the Jewish calendar, Syria
and Egypt staged a surprise attack on Israel. The Israeli military was
unprepared and took about three days to mobilize. This gave time to other Arab
states to send troops to help the Egyptians and Syrians. Israel managed to
fight back, and after the ceasefire on October 25, Israel had increased even
further the land that it occupied, even if only slightly.

Later in the 1970s, Egypt decided to
reach a peace agreement with Israel. At
that point, Arab states could have united in negotiating peace with Israel, and
they could have secured the creation of a Palestinian state. Instead, Arabs states vilified Egyptian
President Anwar El Sadat for his initiative.

In 1994, Jordan decided to negotiate
its own peace agreement with Israel.
Again, Lebanon and Syria could have joined in the negotiations and
secured a Palestinian state, but again they chose to stay out and leave the future
of the Palestinian state unresolved.

Now in March 2014, Syria and Lebanon
are mired in infighting, and the divided Palestinians are going through the
motions of yet one more round of peace negotiations with Israel, but Iran’s
support for Hamas and Hezbollah, and Syria’s and Lebanon’s refusal to settle
the issue of Palestinian refugees all mean that the peace talks are likely to
fail or end in another inconclusive interim agreement.

In their relationship with Israel,
Arab states have had many opportunities to create a Palestinian state, but
their complete inability to accept a Jewish state in the Middle East has meant
that for 66 years, they have preferred to leave the Palestinians stateless and
Palestine unresolved. Today, more than
ever, Arab states are stalled in internal conflicts, civil wars, and state
tyrannies, and yet they blame their woes on Israel and other liberal
democracies.

As someone of Arab origin, I am ashamed
of what Arabs have done and continue to do, but I also want to believe that the
Arab conflicts can be resolved. I
believe that what Arabs lack most is competent and honest leadership like the
one provided by former Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat. They need leaders who believe in their
futures as strong nations able to be equal partners in peace and in trade. They need modern, smart, and educated leaders
instead of weaklings, thugs, and demagogues, and then Palestine might finally
become a reality.

About Me

Fred is a Canadian of Arab origin who supports Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. He also supports a liberal and democratic Middle East where all religions and nationalities, including Palestine, can co-exist in peace with each other and with Israel, and where human rights are respected.